Position in chronology
Šulgi 88
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) To Ninlil, his lady, Šulgi, the powerful man, king of Urim, king of Sumer and Akkad, dedicated this (bead) for his own well-being and for the well-being of Ninturturĝu, his beloved child. (12) Whoever erases this inscription, may my lady, Ninlil, curse him!
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001720/
Why it matters
Dedicatory bead inscription to Ninlil naming Šulgi's child Ninturturĝu: the curse clause attests the legal-religious mechanism Ur III kings used to protect monuments from later erasure or usurpation.
Transliteration
Scholarly note
Sumerian royal inscription, published in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI) by Gábor Zólyomi and collaborators. Translation reproduced from the ETCSRI edition. ORACC text Q001720.
Attribution
Image: CBS 19931 (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) — from Nippur (mod. Nuffar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P270430). source
Translation excerpted from Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001720/.
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